Yunnan "Silver Strands" Green Tea of Simao * Spring 2017

With regard to my mission of finishing all of the green teas I purchased last year, if I am not down to the single digits, I am very close. This was my most recent sipdown. I finished the last of a 50g pouch of this tea last night. The time change had me reeling and I could not sleep at all, so I ended up staying up later than planned and drinking tea. Though I found the leaf quality to be rather mixed, I found this to be an approachable and immensely enjoyable Yunnan green tea.

I prepared this tea gongfu style. After a quick rinse, I steeped 6 grams of loose tea leaves in 4 ounces of 176 F water for 5 seconds. This infusion was chased by 14 additional infusions. Steep times for these infusions were as follows: 7 seconds, 9 seconds, 12 seconds, 16 seconds, 20 seconds, 25 seconds, 30 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, 1 minute, 1 minute 15 seconds, 1 minute 30 seconds, 2 minutes, and 3 minutes.

I detected aromas of hay, grass, malt, and smoke underscored by hints of nuttiness prior to the rinse. After the rinse, I noted emerging aromas of chestnut and straw. The first proper infusion then brought out aromas of lettuce and spinach. In the mouth, the tea liquor initially offered mild notes of hay, malt, straw, chestnut, and grass. Subsequent infusions introduced flavors of spinach, smoke, walnut, and lettuce. I also found impressions of asparagus, cream, minerals, nectar, lime, lemon zest, orange zest, squash blossom, sour plum, corn silk, seaweed, green apple, and butter. The later infusions offered lingering notes of minerals, butter, lettuce, grass, and malt balanced by hints of chestnut and seaweed.

An altogether strong offering, this provided proof that pretty, intact leaves are not always required for a tea to be good. When the leaves first started to expand and unfurl, I noted a number of broken leaves and started getting concerned about off-notes and astringency, but what I ended up getting was a ridiculously aromatic, tasty tea with respectable staying power. I would definitely recommend this tea to fans of Yunnan green teas.